With the exponential growth of the Internet and its digital contents, the world of hosting provider has become increasingly complex and varied.
The today’s commercial offer of hosting providers is a continuous and frenetic upward race in which every limit and restriction seem to have ceased to exist.
But will all that glitters really be gold or should we learn to protect ourselves before proceeding with the purchase?
Here are five mistakes to avoid when choosing a hosting provider …
1) Don’t do even too many reviews
Most hosting providers on the Internet are used to advertise their services through banners and buttons with decidedly appealing graphics.
Their promise is often to guarantee unlimited space and bandwidth by exploiting the scarce Information Literacy that the neophytes of the hosting provider world have on the subject.
A great way to help us see beyond appearances is to read reviews. Let’s do it, though, being careful about …
- The reliability of the source just consulted (it is not rare, in fact, that poor honest hosting providers create ad hoc accounts to fill the network with false positive testimonials).
- The opinions that users have about customer service
- The recorded frequency of downtime
- The presence of complaints regarding security problems, viruses and the like
In principle, always prefer reviews from authoritative technical portals and specialized blogs.
2) Do not brain on restrictions
Let’s start with a very important assumption: in the world there is no hosting provider that can truly guarantee unlimited space and / or bandwidth, and this for the simple fact that every server, even the most technologically advanced, has its own limits.
Digging deeply, in the details of the offers, one soon realizes how the word “Unlimited” always conceals numerous restrictions, including …
- The inability to create multiple POP accounts
- The absence of SSH
- The lack of tools to install the most common software
- The inability to add monitoring and statistics features
However, looking at the offer of foreign hosting providers there are often no such restrictions, and truly unlimited space is truly unlimited if used obviously for hosting websites and for the operation of the sites themselves, which in turn can be unlimited. Unlimited space starts to be limited if the hosting space is used for other purposes, such as program storage, personal photographs, etc., which are not part of the site itself. For file storage you need to look for specific hosting that offer this type of services, often in the cloud.
3) Choose free hosting providers
Many hosting providers support their paid services with free trial packages.
While this feature makes it a useful tool to test the technical characteristics of the hosting provider under examination, on the other hand the same can prove to be the typical double-edged weapon.
In cases like these, it is essential to check that the free sites are not hosted on the same servers as the paid ones.
4) Do not test the customer service
Before proceeding with the purchase of hosting providers, check that the customer service is up to expectations and keeps the promises made.
Browse the technical assistance forums and read the operators’ interventions carefully.
Check the email response times and prepare questions to be asked in Live Chat or on the phone.
Good customer service must always guarantee cordiality, competence and timeliness.
5) Choose hosting provider too “young”
Numerous hosting provider services are born and die on the Net every day.
For this reason, if you do not want to risk, it is always better to associate your site with companies already on the market and with many years of experience in the sector.